Notes on a Break Up
by xfighterplane
Summary: In which Cam and Massie are terrible human beings and responsible for all the disasters in the world by deciding to break up. At least, in the eyes of everyone else. A love story of sorts, in four parts.
1. part one

**part one.**

* * *

><p><em>first;<em>

"_I think we should see other people_."

"What?"

"Did you just say...did we just say...?"

"What the hell?"

"Are you serious?"

"Are _you _serious? Like, what the _hell?"_

_"_No. I refuse to believe that just happened. It's impossible."

"...what the hell? No, what the _fuck_?"

"..."

"..."

"...did we really just break up with each other? At the same time? Using the most cliched break-up line in the history of cliched break-up lines?"

"Yeah. We did."

"Well, then."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Massie Block went from 'in a relationship' to 'single.'<strong>_

**_Cam Fisher went from 'in a relationship' to 'single.'  
><em>**_(Massie Block likes this.__)_

**Cam Fisher:** You would like this, Mass. Vindictive bastard.

**Massie Block: **I aim to please, Hot Lips.

**Cam Fisher:** Are you allowed to still call me that now?

**Massie Block:** Relationships come and go. Hot Lips is forever.

**Cam Fisher:** I'm so breaking up with you.

**Cam Fisher:** OH WAIT.

**Massie Block:** Not cool, Hot Lips. My poor heart can't take any more trauma.

**Josh Hotz:** WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS (_19 people like this comment._)

**Chris Plovert:** Seriously, guys. What is this shit? (_6 people like this comment._)

**Alicia Rivera:** PLEASE TELL ME THIS A CRUEL, SICK JOKE! (_7 people like this comment._)

**Massie Block: **As much as me and Hot Lips Fisher enjoy cruel, sick jokes...this is the real deal, folks. Show's over.

**Alicia Rivera: **Oh my God. I'm coming over right now. Fuck you two so much. So. Much.

**Josh Hotz:** WELL I HOPE YOU TWO ARE PRETTY FUCKING CONTENT WITH YOURSELVES...BECAUSE THERE GOES MY ABILITY TO BELIEVE IN LOVE!

**Cam Fisher:** OUR RELATIONSHIP IS STILL PURE AND UNTAINTED, JOSHUA! _(Josh Hotz likes this comment.)_

**Massie Block: **Oh hey, Cam, did you still wanna get sushi? I'm starved.

**Cam Fisher:** Yeah. After I'm done making sweet, sweet love to Josh, I'll pick you up. 8ish? _(Josh Hotz likes this comment.)_

**Massie Block:** K I'm there. We should catch a movie afterward or something.

**Cam Fisher: **Ooh, I really want to see that horror one with the trailer that gives away the entire plot. You know how much I like those.

**Alicia Rivera:** Can you two shut the fuck up and properly mourn the loss of this relationship? Shit.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe it," groaned Alicia the following Monday after The Break Up (capital letters, of course). She and Massie were situated in their usual perch in the Briarwood library, at the old and chipped table in the back surrounded by all the homework they should have done before.<p>

Massie frowned, staring blankly at her English assignment ('_In an essay, describe the major themes of the book you obviously couldn't be bothered to read_') before discarding it with a sigh. Cam usually did the English coursework anyway. It was one of the reason they had worked so well: Massie the left-brain, Cam the right. "Believe it, _querida_," she answered dully. "Me and Cammy Boy are through."

"But...but you guys broke up with each other _simultaneously_," Alicia mused, raising an eyebrow. Her interrogative, future-journalist side had come out in full force the night of The Break Up when she burst into the Block estate, demanding an explanation as to why Briarwood's very own golden couple decided to call it quits. Massie had obliged her with the full story. The way the two of them didn't seem so right any more, the way they met up too willingly at the park they first met as children, and the way the both uttered those fateful words at exactly the same moment. Serendipity worked in strange ways.

"Yeah, and?" Massie snorted, leafing through her calculus homework with a bored sort of ease. Frustrated, Alicia slapped the lengthy equation sheet out of her best friend's hand.

"Doesn't that sort of mean something?" she argued, eyes widening.

"Mean what?"

Exhaling, Alicia met Massie's eyes dead-on. "That you two are even more perfect together than we all originally thought."

* * *

><p>"Don't even look at me, asshole," Josh growled at Cam as he entered the boy's locker room for soccer practice. Not once did anyone expect spiteful, romance-abhorring Josh Hotz to be the most effected by The Break Up. But then again, it could be argued that the reason he swore off love so certainly was because Cam and Massie had always been enough for him (and everyone).<p>

Cam looked up curiously from lacing his cleats. "That's not what you said last night," he shot back with a grin. Defecting attacks with humor was a strong suit of his.

From the strained expressed on his face, it was very clear that Josh was trying to suppress a laugh. "Don't. This is why people think we're gay and dating."

"We're not dating?"

"Fuck you."

"Love you too, man."

Throwing down his practice bag with unnecessary force, Josh plopped down on the steel bench and stared up at the gray, dimly lit ceiling. "Why did you break up?" he asked quietly, despite the subject of '_why_' already have been discussed ad-nauseum over Skyrim and pizza. "You guys were so good together. And it's not like you guys were fighting or anything. This just came out of nowhere."

"Did it, though?" philosophized Cam, with a dreamy voice and faux-beard stroke for good measure.

Josh sat up and gazed at his friend, irritated. "Don't try your pseudo-artsy-introspective bullshit with me, Camaro. I'm better than that. What happened?"

Truthfully, Cam was still shaky on his own explanation. They had been _CamandMassie_ for nearly two years, and that time had been great. It was all meaningful stares, inside jokes, and long drives to nowhere, talking about everything and nothing. Writing stupid letters to each other in class, nonsensical singing, and saying rude things to one with those goofy smiles that revealed they meant the complete opposite of whatever insult they unleashed on each other. And he loved every moment of it. _Loved_, being past tense.

"Things changed," Cam answered a bit too cryptically, "we did too."

* * *

><p>"Hello?"<p>

"Hey, Leesh."

"Hello, Masseline."

"You do realize that _Masseline_ is not my full, legal name? And that you should really stop referring me to that when you're pissed at me."

"I'm not _pissed _at you. Just disappointed."

"That's Alicia for _pissed."_

"Is there a reason you're telephoning me at, let's see, three in the goddamn morning, Masseline? It's a school night."

"See, dear Alicialine—"

"That doesn't even make any sort of sense whatsoever."

"Anyway, Leeshette, there is a purpose to this call. Like, why is there a collection of romantic comedies in my DVD shelf? And why is my fridge stocked with Ben and Jerry's ice cream in a variety of flavors? Oh and, let's not forget the three boxes of Kleenex on my night stand?"

"Don't know where you're going with this. But, it sounds like you have an amazing friend who cares about you and your general well-being."

"Alicia Belen de Santiago Rivera, are you trying to _comfort _me with stereotypical sad girl materials?"

"That depends, do you feel comforted? And if not, I suggest curling up with _Notting Hill, _a pint of Cherry Garcia, and crying until your tear ducts cannot properly function any more?"

"Eat shit and die."

"I'm just trying to help, Mass."

"I don't _need _help. I don't _need _ice cream or shitty Julia Roberts movies or anything like that. I just need space. And understanding. Can you do that for me?"

"Depends. Can you get back together with Cam?"

"Have I already told you to eat shit and die? If not, allow me to say it in Spanish. _Come mierda y muere_."

"Nice try, Google Translate."

* * *

><p>The whole week, Cam had to flag questions and comments from just about everyone in the school regarding The Break Up. Awestruck underclassmen who idolized the senior couple, teachers who had been forced to watch the pair flirtatiously bicker during lessons, and even the janitors, who had been accustomed to finding them in broom closets. Not passionately locking lips, like their hormone-addled peers, but simply <em>talking<em>.

"I just thought you two were amazing together, you know?" Dylan Marvil said sadly to him in art class. Art class was his sole respite in the midst of this chaos. Once the paper was in front of him and the charcoal was placed firmly in his hand, all was well. Of course, the gossip just had to catch up with him. "You had the relationship that shitty teen romance novels led me to believe existed."

"If you ever need to talk, son," Mr. Myner, the history teacher, murmured with a fatherly tone, "you know where to find me. My office is always open to you, Cameron." Nodding politely and spewing out some thank-you, Cam immediately rushed away.

"Does this mean I can get at Massie now?" Kemp Hurley queried all too eagerly. "Not that I will, or anything. But she's been looking really good lately. Is it possible that she got hotter? I mean she was always hot. Not was, but _is. _You had that for two years, Fisher, you lucky son-of-a-bitch." Deep down, Cam knew that Kemp lacked basic tact and manners, but that didn't stop his blood from boiling and his fists from clenching. But, he was still Good Ol' Fisher, so he laughed the comment off playfully and tried to forget the blunt words.

(Cam pushed him a little too hard in practice afterward. Not anything severe, but he just slid into Kemp, who coincidentally slid face-first into the goal post. It was an accident. Really.)

* * *

><p><strong>So I've been gone. Not gone, but I think M.I.A. is a better term for it. Or dead. Yeah, I like dead. Sorry guys, school has made me its slave. But, things are looking up again and I'm gonna try to <strong>**be more involved. Expect an update for 'the great inbetween' very, very soon! **

**This story came to me out of nowhere and was one of those things that just had to be written. This chapter is just supposed to be the initial shock, next part revolves around the curious break-up friendship that ensues. Forgive me if I'm ridiculously rusty, but I hope you enjoyed reading it and didn't recoil from utter disgust :)**

**Love,**

**Ren**


	2. part two

**part two.**

_then;_

The first thing Claire Lyons did after she returned from her _absolutely fabulous, thanks for asking_ trip to Paris, she confronted Massie in the hallway. It was no secret that Claire still held a torch for her middle school flame, Cam. So, news of The Break-Up sent her into an euphoric frenzy.

"So," she began, cornering Massie at her locker as she flipped her freshly highlighted hair back. "Did you cheat or did he?"

Massie blinked, with her thoughts seeming to sway back and forth like a pendulum—should she shoot Claire or stab her? Bury the corpse or burn it? Decisions, decisions. But then, her memory pulled a one-over on her.

Suddenly, every little thought in her mind went back to one day: June second, last year.

**{...}**

"What do you want for your birthday?" Cam and Massie had been lying down on the grass at the park—_their __pa_rk. They did this almost every evening, meeting up at their spot after getting off work (Cam, a day camp art instructor; Massie, a desk jockey for her father's company.) Dusk approached, along with a chain of fireflies illuminating the dark, summer sky. Their feet were intertwined, but their hands had the tiniest of gaps between them. Massie remembered this part the clearest—the air had smelled like smoke, rain, and wonder.

"My birthday?" Technically, July twelfth wasn't that far away, but still distant enough for her to not really care. Lazily, she answered, "nothing."

"Come on," Cam had pressed. He was a big believer in the power of birthday wishes, something Massie took great joy in mocking. Blowing out some candles on a store-bought cake was the furthest thing from magical. "Everyone wants something."

If she had been truthful, she would've sighed and mumbled something along the lines of, "But I already have _you_._"_ And Cam would've smiled that stupid smile that secretly made her melt, and any wishes would've been taken care of in that moment. Instead, she just snorted and said, "Fine. You want to get me something for my birthday?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Get me a tiger named Gustavo."

"What?"

"A tiger. Named Gustavo."

"Why would you want a tiger named Gustavo?"

"Why wouldn't I, Honey Bear?"

"We've already had a conversation about that name."

Massie laughed and tossed a handful of grass at him. "Get me the tiger, and we'll talk about a potential nickname change. But I'm warning you, this takes quite a bit of paperwork and calls and—hey, put me down!" Cam had lifted her up and was already running them back to his car, like a deranged groom and hysterical bride.

She didn't think too much about their conversation until her birthday rolled around. Cam had called her ridiculously early in the morning telling her to get dressed. When asked why, he didn't say anything but, "We're going to get your present." And he didn't say another word as she piled into his beat-up ride, or during the curiously long drive, or when he pulled into the parking lot for the zoo. Nor did he utter a single word as he bought their admissions passes, or answer Massie's increasingly aggravated requests as to why they were at the zoo at _eight-twenty-five _on her only day off work that week. Silently, he led her to the tiger exhibit and sat them down on the plastic bench, right in front of the glass windows.

"Cam," growled Massie. "Explain yourself. Now."

For the first time all day, he broke out in a grin. "You'll see."

Before Massie could protest or threaten him, the zookeeper appeared and gave her tiny discourse about the special Bengal tigers that Westchester Zoo had recently acquired. Massie only remembered bits and pieces of the speech, but she would never forget the zookeeper's last three sentences.

"...and this little one," she said gleefully, holding up a baby tiger proudly to the audience like it was a kitten and not a future ferocious animal, "is the newest addition to the tiger exhibit. He's a real fireball, would you look at these eyes? Everyone, say hello to _Gustavo!_" And the group of parents and children that surrounded them cheered. But all Massie could do was dart her eyes at Cam, who suddenly had been very interested in the "_Please Do Not Litter_" sign.

"_What? How? You_," she coughed out, making some noise between a laugh and a sob. It could've been either one, her emotions were all jumbled, but everything was _Cam _and nothing and nobody else. Throwing her arms around her very sheepish boyfriend, she had held onto him as tightly as she could. When she finally let him go, she quickly pressed her lips to his.

"I hereby dub thee _Hot Lips_."

**{...}**

Massie blinked at Claire. "That's the stupidest question I've ever heard."

* * *

><p><strong>cam<strong> **[8:56]**: The awkward moment when your mom tries to ground you for breaking up with your asshole girlfriend.

**massie [9:03]**: So, you recently got another girlfriend and broke up with her?

**cam** **[9:06]**: The awkward moment when Massie doesn't understand your joke.

**massie [9:08]**: The awkward moment when Cam doesn't know how to shut the fuck up.

**cam [9:13]**: The awkward moment when I want to ask you if I can come over and eat food, because I'm too afraid to go downstairs where my mother is.

**massie [9:18]**: The awkward moment when I'll leave the key under the mat and you're welcome to eat whatever's left from dinner.

::

"Oh my God, I would sell my body for a lifetime's supply of Inez's enchiladas," Cam declared, polishing off his third plate of food. Massie woke up from her late-night nap to see him in her living room, greedily finishing the Mexican food with a disgusting sort of gusto.

Yawning, she said, "Inez doesn't want your body. Nobody does."

"You did."

After considering the statement for a moment, Massie shrugged. "True. And what a delight that was." She collapsed on the couch and covered herself sloppily with a blanket. "How's Josh holding up?"

"Not so good," Cam said between bites. "He's still pissed, and I'm not sure if I should be pissed that he's pissed."

"Mutual pissage can't be healthy."

"It's taking a toll on our love life," he joked. "How's Leesh?"

"She's convinced that I'm repressing all unpleasant emotions because I'm afraid they'll take over my life and I'm not strong enough to handle them. Those were her exact words." Massie grabbed Cam's plate out of his hand and started eating. "I blame you for giving her that psychology book for her birthday."

Cam shoved her lightly and took the plate back. When Massie tried to pull her pout-face, he argued, "My mom refuses to feed me. These are _my _enchiladas."

"I'll call Eliza tomorrow and tell her that you're eating my food and it's damaging to my health." Mrs. Fisher was always coaxing the lithe Massie to come over and eat, even going as far as to buy her those protein milkshakes. _You're nothing but skin and bones_, she'd claim. And then Cam would chime in,_ She's secretly a sumo wrestler, this is her disguise. _The stupid jokes he'd make to make Massie more comfortable around his family in their early stages of dating.

"I'll tell her that _you're _damaging to _my _health."

"Shut up and hand me that fork, these enchiladas are better than I thought."

* * *

><p>"Camilla!" Josh yelled across the courtyard. Of course, Camilla Graham and Camilla Lucio both perked up, wondering why Josh <em>You're About to Get the <em>Hotz would be screaming their names. But their faces fell when they realized, all too late, that Josh was referring to his best friend, and all hope for a relationship was dead.

"Are you and Massie in a secret shitty nickname competition? Because you're winning by a long shot," quipped Cam, looking up from his sketches. At the end of the year, he was to turn his portfolio in to the art teacher for a final grade. Something about showing growth and diversity and hints of true character. So far, his was just filled with drawings of Massie—at the beach, in his car, when she fell asleep in various locations. He had a lot of explaining to do come June.

Josh threw his backpack down on the table. "I'm going to ignore that," he replied dryly. "Anyway. I know the perfect thing to get you out of your funk."

"I'm not in a funk."

"You broke up with the girl of your dreams. Of course you're in a funk, you fuck." Despite it being nearly a week and a half after The Break-Up, Josh hadn't relented in his clear disapproval of the event, much to Cam's dismay. But, he was far too tired to defend himself from Josh's never ending array of brutal comments that all had the same mistake: _you're making a huge mistake._

He sighed. "Fine, I'm in a funk. What's your advice, Dr. Hotz?"

Josh smirked at the title. "Party. Friday. Skye Hamilton's. We're going."

"Grammar is not to be feared, Joshua."

"Once again, I'll ignore that comment." He tossed Cam his cell phone, opened to the mass text that Skye had undoubtedly sent to nearly everyone teenager in the tri-state area. "It's going to be _wild_. You have to go."

Skeptically, Cam raised an eyebrow. Josh knew that parties, let alone Skye Hamilton parties, were not his forte. Suddenly, the whole scenario seemed overwhelmingly suspicious. "What's your angle?"

"Why do you think I always have an angle?"

"You always have an angle." Cam pondered his possible reasons for a moment. Maybe he needed a wingman, or that horrendous Claire Lyons paid Josh a million dollars to set the two up. "Let me guess...you're going to get me drunk and pass me off to the nearest owner of a functioning vagina?"

A hoarse, mirthless laugh escaped Josh's lips. "No, no." He paused for a moment. "But that's not a bad idea."

* * *

><p><strong>[Alicia Rivera<strong>: Oh, do you ever stop and wonder why we're not upside down?**] **_  
>(6 people like this.)<em>

**Cam Fisher:** I can safely say I've never wondered that.

**Alicia Rivera:** I can safely say I've never wondered if you're a bitch, because the answer has always been overwhelmingly obvious. _(Massie Block likes this)_

**Josh Hotz:** Leeshy babe, you just can't say those things to Cam. Say you're sorry. _(Cam Fisher likes this.)_

**Alicia Rivera: **Sorry you're a bitch, Fisher-Price.

**Cam Fisher: **This nickname stuff is getting OUT OF HAND

**Alicia Rivera:** Now you have something interesting to write about in your diary.

**Cam Fisher: **I don't have a diary.

**Alicia Rivera:** Okay. And me and Josh are totally secretly making out. _(Massie Block and Cam Fisher like this)_

**Josh Hotz:** WHAT? _(7 people like this.)_

**Alicia Rivera:** Sarcasm, darling.

**Cam Fisher: **I repeat, I do not...nor have I ever...owned a diary. Ever.

**Massie Block:** Cam, your lying is getting OUT OF HAND _(Alicia Rivera, Josh Hotz, and 10 people like this.)_

**Cam Fisher:** I DON'T HAVE A DIARY, MASSELINE JULIA BLOCK IS A LIAR!

**Alicia Rivera:** I KNEW THAT WAS YOUR FULL NAME, YOU LYING SHIT!

**Massie Block:** MASSELINE ISN'T EVEN A REAL NAME!

**Josh Hotz:** STOP YELLING, EVERYONE!

* * *

><p>Massie called Cam exactly eleven days after their break up, at three-thirty-eight AM.<p>

"Cam?" she breathed into the phone, as if she was just waking up from a particularly terrifying nightmare. In a way, she was still in the midst of it. Luckily, Cam was a notorious night owl, but even this was a bit too late for him.

Groggily, he replied, "Mass? What's wrong? Are you okay?" He went quickly from basically unconscious to concerned, why else would she be calling him at this hour? And judging by her worried tone (a far cry from her typically coolness), something was obviously troubling her.

And troubling it was. She had woken up from a dream, but not so much a dream as it was a re-telling of the past two months of her life. In black and white, she saw _everything_. The missed dates, the less funny jokes, the increasing distance. _Where did this come from_, she had asked her dream self, who simply shrugged sadly and watched it all melt away. _But I love him_, she pleaded to deaf ears, _can't you get him back? _The melancholy was stagnant and abrupt, blindsiding Cam and Massie like a hit-and-run accident.

Then everything stopped at one moment. During their counselor's appointment to discuss university plans. The fateful moment where the two were asked, "Where do you see yourself in the future?" And Cam saw Florence and oil pastels and canvases, while Massie saw London and numbers and her name on a CEO doorplate. But, neither of them saw the other.

And well, it was foreboding.

That's when they stopped being _CamandMassie _and turned into _Cam_ and _Massie_, two wholly separate entities who wondered if being young and love was worth anything if it was doomed to go down the drain eventually.

Massie sniffed a bit. "That's the problem. _Am _I okay? Are _you __okay? _What is _okay _anyway, and why do we even to be it? And is there something wrong with us for being...like this?" She inhaled sharply (_where did all the air go_?) and continued, "Shouldn't we be upset and hate each other and we—"

Cam's voice fell a little bit, as it did usually when she went into one of her rambles. "Massie, listen to me. It's perfectly okay that we're okay with each other. It's great, even. Trust me."

Her voice heightened an octave. "Really?"

"Really."

"And there's nothing wrong with me?"

"I'm not sure if I can answer that truthfully."

"Cam."

"Just joking. There's nothing wrong with you, Mass. I promise."

* * *

><p>AN: Wow, thanks for all the lovely feedback for the last chapter! I'm going to try to reply to reviews tonight, sorry it's been taking so long. I really appreciate them! Hope you guys enjoyed this installment, I promise the next chapter will explain a bit more. It'll probably be the longest.<p>

Thanks for reading,

Ren

PS: the facebook parts are too fun to write.


	3. part three

**part three**

_and;_**  
><strong>

"Get in, loser. We're going shopping."

Cam didn't have to look up from his sketching to know the commanding voice of Alicia Rivera. He briefly glanced up from his work to see her in the driver's seat of her Beamer, sunglasses on and hair pulled back in a ballerina bun. She meant business. That was never a good sign for him. So much for a peaceful afternoon of drawing in the park.

"You can't demand me to go places with you using _Mean Girls_ quotes," Cam replied loudly enough for her to hear over her blaring music, yet he obliged her request anyway. Alicia could be just as stubborn as Massie.

"Shut up, Fisher-Price," she retorted once Cam slid into the passenger seat. She didn't wait for him to buckle his seatbelt before slamming on the gas. "We need to look cute for Skye's party."

Cam and Alicia had been shopping companions since the seventh grade, when Alicia had transferred from a private international school in Spain to Briarwood. She only needed one look at Cam in his older brother's beat-up leather jacket and deteriorated Chuck Taylors to immediately take pity on his sense of fashion. Since then, they've prowled the mall together in search of clothes, presents for special occasions, and a good conversation between two pals. Before Massie and Cam got together (through fate mostly, but Alicia took full credit), everyone assumed he and Alicia would end up together, much to their mutual disinterest. In fact, she would sneer in disgust and shriek, "He's like a _sister_ to me."

"But I'm always cute," he whined.

She snorted. "Honey, that kind of arrogance only works for people named Josh Hotz. He's absolutely stunning."

"If you love him so much, why don't you marry him?"

"You'd die of jealousy."

"True that."

**{...}**

Three hours later, the pair had exhausted themselves by trekking through the Westchester Mall, rifling through nearly every boutique as if they were looting for gold. Well, Alicia was, anyway. There were definitely moments where Cam regretted enabling his friend's addiction to fashion, but she could be brutal if you stood between her and a sale.

"I don't even want to go to Skye's party," Cam remarked, when the two had collapsed in the food court to grab dinner.

Alicia scoffed. "Nobody ever _wants _to go to a party. It's mostly youth fear being left out among their peers due to an underlying concern of social rejection. Parties are actually pretty fascinating as a means to people watch and observe behavioral changes in different scenarios."

"Have I mentioned that I regret buying you that psychology book?"

"Massie hinted at it. But why are you so down on Skye's party? It's not like you go to parties anyway. I'm sure you'll survive one night."

This was true. The Friday night ragers common among the Westchester crowd was simply not his idea of a good time. He went occasionally, usually on the request of his friends. But usually, his weekends were spent hanging out Massie, working out with Josh for soccer, convincing Alicia she didn't need _two _sweaters in the same color, or drawing. Truth be told, he could be a bit of a bore.

He sighed and aimlessly drew pictures in ketchup with his fries. "I just think Josh has...ulterior motives for making me go to Skye's."

"It's Josh Hotz. I'd be suspicious if he didn't have some sort of ulterior motive."

"I don't think you're getting it," he replied, running about a thousand terrifying scenarios through his head, "He said I was in a _funk. _And the idea of being de-funked by Josh is horrifying."

She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to pinky-promise you that I won't let Josh de-funk. Nor will I give out that picture of you at the pool to the girl's softball team." She extended her baby finger out to him.

Cam immediately pulled his pinky back. "What picture of me at the pool?" Despite what his friends told him, he wasn't fully aware of his status among the girls at school. Cam assumed that any female attention was from hanging around Josh. Plus, Massie never gave him any ego-boost in the form of jealousy over some girl batting her eyelashes at him. She didn't have much cause for envy anyway, it was very clear that Cam was over the moon for her and her alone.

"The one where you're totally wearing a shirt and you're completely dry and covered up." Bullshit.

Groaning, he placed his head on the table. "Did they at least offer you money?"

"Twenty bucks."

"I want half."

"Seven dollars and fifty-cents, kid, and not a penny more."

* * *

><p><strong>[Josh Hotz:<strong> Absolutely PUMPED for Friday**.]**

_(12 people like this)_

**Massie Block:** Finally taking care of that STD? _(Alicia Rivera and 10 people like this)_

**Alicia Rivera:** Finally catch up on 'Pretty Little Liars'? _(Massie Block and 7 people like this)_

**Cam Fisher: **Finally gonna take me out to that nice Italian restaurant downtown? _(Massie Block, Alicia Rivera, and 15 people like this)_

**Josh Hotz: **Is it too much to ask to have friends that let me be happy about things?

**Skye Hamilton: **You should be pumped, my party's going to be sick. Save me a dance?

**Josh Hotz: **How about the lambada? It's forbidden ;)

**Skye Hamilton:** Oh, my ;)

**Cam Fisher: **Dude.

**Massie Block: **Gross.

**Alicia Rivera: **Seriously? Cam's right there. _(Cam Fisher likes this)_

**Josh Hotz: **So we're all going to the party on Friday? And be aware that saying no means that this friendship is over.

**Massie Block: **Well in that case...HELL NO._ (Alicia Rivera and Cam Fisher like this)_

**Josh Hotz: **Alrighty. Sounds great. Love you guys. Let's meet up at my house at seven? Cambo drives. Mass navigates. Leesh sings to the radio. I look hot. It'll be just like old times.

* * *

><p>When they were still <em>MassieandCam<em> (no spaces), a common question they had to field from outsiders was the dreaded "_how did you get together_?" Unsurprisingly, that question got old fast. The story itself was rather simple: Initially, Massie had a crush on _Josh_, of all people. She grew closer to him, and subsequently Cam as a result of her crush and Cam's friendship with Alicia. Through a series of missteps, late-night talks, and quite a bit of soul searching— Massie and Cam realized they were a perfectly imperfect fit and all was well in the world.

But that wasn't the whole story. Not really.

Massie can still remember the first time she saw Cam.

(And technically, it was the millionth time she had physically _seen _him. But it was the first she really used her eyes.)

It was sophomore year, and Massie believed that Josh was the grandest thing on earth, Cam was becoming a great friend, and Alicia's annual decade party was the place to be. Each year, she threw a party themed on a period in time chosen at random, and that year it had been the 1950s. The Rivera estate was decorated to look like a sock hop, while Landon Crane's band played all the rock n' roll hits of the time. Girls in poodle or tight pencil skirts with bouffants, boys in letterman or leather jackets with their hair slicked back. If it had been anyone else throwing the shindig, it would've been regarded as an embarrassing attempt at coolness. But since it was Alicia "_I Breathe Cool_" Rivera, everyone followed the theme earnestly.

But Massie remembered the party so clearly for a different reason. It happened to fall the day after her parents announced their divorce. In Westchester, where couples were either mind-bogglingly in love, openly unfaithful, or a combination of both, divorce wasn't a strange occurrence. In all honesty, she saw it coming. The way her parents would argue back and forth, coldly ignore each other, and then passionately rekindle their romance was a recipe for disaster. It was a miracle they had stayed together for so long.

They simply weren't built to last, and that day, Massie decided nobody was.

Despite the burden of her family falling apart, she attended the party anyway. She had figured it was the best way to get her mind off the fact that her life was going to be a mess of custody battles, strained family events, and gossip from Westchester society. Yet, the second she walked into the soiree and seemingly time traveled to an era where families stayed together (no matter how miserable), she knew it was a mistake. Then, Landon had to twist the proverbial knife in her heart and play a rendition of "Earth Angel." To most of the party goers, it was a lovely excuse for a slow dance.

To Massie, it was an omen. The same song had played at her parent's wedding. And each year for their anniversary. And right then, she came to the saddest conclusion yet: the song would play no more in the Block household. It wasn't the beginning of a new life, it was the beginning of the end.

At that moment, something within her snapped. Fighting back the tears that threatened to betray her calm facade, she fled. She forced herself to push past the throngs of people, past a very concerned Alicia, and past any shred of belief that love was something more than a chemical reaction. Massie didn't stop until she was outside, on the second floor balcony. Then, and only then, did she let the tears spill. With heaving sobs, every possible terrible feeling erupted from her system. Sadness. Regret. Guilt. Hopelessness. It was the worst sort of crying, the kind one did when there was no use in pretending otherwise. The ugly, indelicate kind. The crying one does when they're sure they're alone, in every sense of the word.

Except Massie wasn't alone.

In her breakdown, she failed to notice the boy sitting on the edge of the balcony, absent-mindedly sketching the view. She didn't see the way he curiously stared at her as she cried for half a moment before moving in, as if he couldn't quite believe that Massie "_Fuck Feelings_" Block was physically capable of crying. And she certainly didn't register the fact that he had draped his sweater over her shoulders until much later, when she left the party with the garment still wrapped around her.

But she did, however, realize the boy had carefully placed an arm around her without question, and she cried unto him without inhibition. For half a second, she thought (and truthfully, hoped) the boy was Josh, due to the familiar scent. But when the boy said quietly, "You'll be okay," in that wonderfully raspy voice she was growing more fond of, she wasn't so sure about anything anymore. She was beginning to like the blue and green eyes she was boring more and more into everyday, as well as the perpetually charcoal-smudged hands and introspective demeanor against her more brash persona. For a while, she thought she and Josh made sense because they were so similar, but now? Maybe opposites did attract.

"Try not to get snot on the sweater. Alicia will kill me," Cam joked lightly, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Massie laughed. And then he laughed too. And before she knew it, the night air and Cam's sweater had dried her tears, and all was well in the world. At least for a moment.

And that's when Massie decided that Cameron Fisher was dangerous.

* * *

><p><strong>josh [2:54]:<strong> can i ask you something?

**massie [2:56]:** shoot.

**josh [2:59]:** on a scale of one to ten, how angry would you be if i set a certain ex-boyfriend of yours up with kori geldman at skye's party?

**massie [3:12]:** that depends.

**josh [3:13]: **on what?

**massie [3:16]: **how attached you are to the use of your legs.

**josh [3:17]:** but masseline, how ever can you be so angered if you and dear cameron are no longer bethrothed?

**massie [3:19]:** fuck you, you're not even using the word betrothed correctly. and stop calling me masseline. do i have to show you assholes my birth certificate?

**josh [3:21]:** i'll stop calling you masseline if you admit you still love cam.

**massie [3:23]:** who said i stopped?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Sooo, more pressing matters first: this story will be in four parts. I've written the ending already, and I felt without this chapter, everything would be rushed. Plus, I liked developing the Cam/Alicia/Massie/Josh friendship. Friendships in general are great :) Speaking of, I'm incredibly grateful of all the friends I've made on this site, so I'm gonna try to come back and finish my stories. Thanks to all the people who continue to read and review my work, even though I'm terrible at updating. I honestly read every review, and each one just helps me as a writer.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'm trying to keep the humor present and I'm really, really rusty. Forgive me :p

Thanks for reading,

_Ren_**  
><strong>


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